Idaho basketball adds one to the squad
The Vandals grabbed another addition to their 2018-2019 squad with guard RayQuawndis Mitchell. Mitchell signed his letter of intent to Idaho June 27.
“We are really excited to add RayQuawndis to our program,” Idaho Head Coach Don Verlin said in a news release. “We saw him play AAU in April and immediately began working to place him in a prep school with the hopes of signing him in the 2019 class. When we had a scholarship open up a few weeks ago, we arranged for him to come on a visit and he committed to us while he was here.”
Verlin said Mitchell is a late bloomer at just 17 years old, but the athlete has shown strong improvements over the past year.
At 6-foot-4 and 180 lbs., Mitchell averaged 22.1 points per game in his senior year at Blaine High School in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He notched nearly 10 rebounds per game and completed 6.7 assists, earning All-Conference recognitions.
“His skill level and natural position is as a combo guard, but his size and length will allow him to play all three perimeter positions for us,” Verlin said.
Cross-country just around the corner
Just weeks after the closing of the outdoor track and field season, cross-country is right around the corner. Idaho Director of Track and Field Tim Cawley released the Idaho 2018 season schedule, including one meet on its home turf.
“I am excited about the cross-country season coming up,” Cawley said in a news release. “The schedule is set to build through the year to get them in a great spot and competing at their best when they need to be. Getting a chance to compete at home at the beautiful U of I golf course in front of home fans is a great way to start the season off.”
The season kicks off Aug. 31 with the annual Clash of the Inland Northwest at the Idaho golf course.
Idaho will then travel to Spokane for the Gonzaga/Portland State Dual before traveling to Montana for the Montana Invitational. The regular season will close with the Bronco Invitational in Santa Clara, California.
The Championships begin with the 2018 Big Sky Cross-Country Championships Oct. 27 in Sacramento, California The NCAA West Regional Cross-Country Championships will also take place in Sacramento beginning Nov. 9.
Both the men and women’s teams return four of the-five scorers from the previous year’s conference championships. The men finished in 12th at the NCAA West Regional and the women in 14th.
Women soccer in the countdown
With several months to go until the first kick off of the season, Idaho women’s soccer released its schedule for the 2018 season, including eight matches in the Kibbie Dome.
All regular season home matches will be streamed live on the PlutoTV app and WatchBigSky.com.
Idaho will face Utah in an exhibition match Aug. 10 before returning to the Dome to face Central Washington Aug. 14.
The Vandals will dip their toes into Mountain West play, opening the regular season at Nevada Aug. 17 and Boise State Aug. 19. Idaho faced Boise State in the early weeks of the 2017 season, finishing the match in a 1-1 draw in front of record-breaking crowds.
Idaho will kickoff the regular season at home Aug. 24 versus Grambling.
Idaho will head east to Montana to face North Dakota Aug. 31 and Vermont Sept. 2. The Vandals will face Palouse rivals Washington State Sept. 6.
The squad will then return home Sept. 9 to celebrate 20 years of Vandal soccer against UC Riverside. The final non-conference matches will be Seattle U (Sept. 13) and Oregon (Sept. 16).
Conference play begins with Portland State Sept. 21 in the Kibbie Dome.
The final home games of the season are Oct. 12 and 14 with Idaho State and Weber State, respectively.
The season will come to a close at Southern Utah (Oct. 19) and Northern Arizona (Oct. 21).
The Big Sky Tournament runs Oct. 31 through Nov. 4 in Ogden, Utah, where the top-six teams from the regular season standings will compete.
Meredith Spelbring can be reached at [email protected]